Single photon avalanche gate sensor device

ABSTRACT

A semiconductor substrate doped with a first doping type is positioned adjacent an insulated gate electrode that is biased by a gate voltage. A first region within the semiconductor substrate is doped with the first doping type and biased with a bias voltage. A second region within the semiconductor substrate is doped with a second doping type that is opposite the first doping type. Voltage application produces an electrostatic field within the semiconductor substrate causing the formation of a fully depleted region within the semiconductor substrate. The fully depleted region responds to absorption of a photon with an avalanche multiplication that produces charges that are collected at the first and second regions.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. application for patent Ser.No. 15/945,972 filed Apr. 5, 2018, the disclosure of which isincorporated by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to image sensors of either the front sideillumination (FSI) type or back side illumination (BSI) type implementedwith a junctionless photosensor.

BACKGROUND

Silicon avalanche diodes for image sensing are well known in the art. Ajunction between P conductivity type semiconductor material and Nconductivity type semiconductor material is formed in a substrate. ThatPN junction is reversed biased with a relatively high voltage exceedingthe breakdown voltage of the diode. Reception of a photon in thedepletion layer triggers produces a self-sustaining avalanche and thegeneration of a detection current. Drawbacks of such devices include: anundesirably high dark current rate due to junction defects and implantedsilicon defects and an undesirably high operating voltage (for example,in excess of 17 Volts).

There is a need in the art to address the foregoing problems.

SUMMARY

In an embodiment, a photosensor comprises: a semiconductor substratedoped with a first doping type; an insulated gate electrode adjacentsaid semiconductor substrate; a first region within the semiconductorsubstrate doped with the first doping type, wherein the first region isconfigured to be biased with a first bias voltage; and a second regionwithin the semiconductor substrate doped with a second doping type thatis opposite the first doping type, wherein the second region isconfigured to be biased with a second bias voltage. The insulated gateelectrode is configured to be biased by a gate voltage to produce anelectrostatic field within the semiconductor substrate causing theformation of a fully depleted region within the semiconductor substrate.The fully depleted region responds to absorption of a photon with anavalanche multiplication that produces charges that are collected at thefirst and second regions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing and other features and advantages will be discussed indetail in the following non-limiting description of specific embodimentsin connection with the following illustrations wherein:

FIGS. 1A and 1B are cross-sectional diagrams of a front side illuminatedsingle photon avalanche gate photosensor with a planar gate structure;

FIGS. 2A and 2B are cross-sectional diagrams of a back side illuminatedsingle photon avalanche gate photosensor with a planar gate structure;

FIG. 3 shows a layout view of the photosensors of FIGS. 1A-1B and 2A-2B;

FIGS. 4A and 4B are cross-sectional diagrams of a back side illuminatedsingle photon avalanche gate photosensor with a vertical gate structure;

FIG. 5 shows a layout view of the photosensor of FIG. 4;

FIGS. 6A and 6B illustrate the operation principle of the photosensor ofFIG. 4; and

FIG. 7 is a circuit diagram of a sensing circuit using the single photonavalanche gate photosensor.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The same elements have been designated with the same reference numeralsin the various drawings and, further, the various drawings are not toscale. For clarity, only those elements which are useful to theunderstanding of the described embodiments have been shown and aredetailed. In particular, certain masks used during the steps of themanufacturing method described hereafter have not been shown.

In the following description, terms “high”, “side”, “lateral”, “top”,“above”, “under”, “on”, “upper”, and “lower” refer to the orientation ofthe concerned elements in the corresponding drawings.

Reference is now made to FIG. 1A wherein there is shown across-sectional diagram of a front side illuminated single photonavalanche gate (SPAG) photosensor device 10. The device 10 is formed ona silicon on insulator (SOI) substrate comprising a supportingsemiconductor substrate 12, a buried insulating layer 14, also known tothose skilled in the art as a buried oxide (BOX) layer, on top of thesubstrate 12, and a semiconductor film layer 16 on top of the buriedinsulating layer 14. The supporting semiconductor substrate 12 islightly doped with a p-type dopant. The semiconductor film layer 16 isan epitaxially grown layer that is also doped with the p-type dopant.The dopant concentration in the supporting semiconductor substrate 12may, for example, be in the range of 5×10¹⁶ to 2×10¹⁹ at/cm³ and thedopant concentration in the semiconductor film layer 16 may, forexample, be in the range of 1×10¹⁶ to 5×10¹⁷ at/cm³.

A planar insulated gate structure 20 is formed on the front surface ofthe semiconductor film layer 16. In an implementation, the semiconductorfilm layer 16 may include a gradient doping of 1×10¹⁴ at the middle oflayer 16 up to 5×10¹⁷ at/cm³ at the top of the layer 16 adjacent theinterface between the layer 16 and the gate structure 20. The planarinsulated gate structure 20 includes a gate dielectric layer 22, aconductive gate 24 and sidewall spacers 26. The gate dielectric layer 22may, for example, be made of a silicon oxide material as is conventionalin the fabrication of MOSFET devices. The conductive gate 24 may, forexample, be made of a polysilicon and/or metal material as isconventional in the fabrication of MOSFET devices. The sidewall spacers26 may, for example, be made of silicon oxide and/or silicon nitridematerials as is conventional in the fabrication of MOSFET devices.

The planar insulated gate structure 20 may have a ring shape in planview, where the ring surrounds a first doped region 30 that is formed inthe semiconductor film layer 16 at the front surface. The first dopedregion 30 is heavily doped with the p-type dopant. The dopantconcentration in the first doped region 30 may, for example, be in therange of 5×10¹⁸ to 5×10²⁰ at/cm³. The first doped region 30 has athickness which is less than a thickness of the layer 16. On theopposite side of the ring-shaped planar insulated gate structure 20, andin a position surrounding the planar insulated gate structure 20, aring-shaped second doped region 32 is formed in the semiconductor filmlayer 16 at the front surface. The second doped region 32 is heavilydoped with an n-type dopant and is separated from the first doped region30 by a part of the substrate 12 located under the ring-shaped planarinsulated gate structure 20. The dopant concentration in the seconddoped region 32 may, for example, be in the range of 5×10¹⁸ to 5×10²⁰at/cm³. The second doped region 32 has a thickness which extendscompletely through the thickness of the layer 16 to reach the interfacewith the buried oxide layer 14.

Operation of the front side illuminated single photon avalanche gatephotosensor device 10 to detect a photon (hv) entering the front surfacerequires respectively biasing the first doped region 30 through an h+electrode, the second doped region 32 through the e− electrode, andfinally the gate electrode 24. The bias of the first doped region 30may, for example, be in the range of 0-3V. The bias of the second dopedregion 32 may, for example, be set to 12V. The bias of the gateelectrode 24 may be set, for example, in a range of 12-15V in order toset the interface between the silicon oxide layer 22 and film 16 in ane− accumulation layer mode. In response to the application of the gatevoltage, the h+ electrode voltage and the e− electrode voltage, anelectric field E is formed within the semiconductor film layer 16 withfield lines extending between the conductive gate 24 and the supportingsemiconductor substrate 12 in a direction perpendicular to the frontsurface of the semiconductor film layer 16. Photon (hv) absorptionoccurs in the semiconductor film layer 16 at a depth dependent on photonwavelength and electron (e−) and hole (h+) generation results. The holesare drained to the h+ electrode and electrons are drained by theelectric field to the interface between the silicon oxide layer 22 andfilm 16. Charge impact ionization occurs due to the electric field Eextending across the semiconductor film layer 16 and an avalancheensues. Electron and hole charge collection due to the avalanchemultiplication is made, respectively, at the first and second dopedregions and is passed out, respectively, through the e− and h+electrodes.

It will be noted that the front side illuminated single photon avalanchegate photosensor device 10 differs from a convention single photonavalanche diode (SPAD) device because there is no P-N junction for thephotosensing avalanche multiplication operation. This junctionlessphotosensing configuration advantageously does not suffer from thedrawback of conventional SPAD devices where photosensing is associatedwith the P-N junction such as an undesirably high dark current rate dueto junction defects and implanted silicon defects. Additionally, it willbe noted that the front side illuminated single photon avalanche gatephotosensor device 10 does not require the use of undesirably highoperating voltages as is the case with conventional SPAD devices.

While the device 10 of FIG. 1A is shown with a p-doped semiconductorfilm layer 16 and operation in charge gate oxide accumulation mode, itwill be understood that the dopant types for the various includedstructures could be exchanged so that an n-doped semiconductor filmlayer 16 is provide to instead operate in hole gate oxide accumulationmode. See, FIG. 1B. The operation of the device 10 configured in theforegoing manner would, for example, utilize, respectively, a biasing ofthe first doped region 30 through an e− electrode, a biasing of thesecond region 32 through an h+ electrode and finally a biasing of thegate electrode 24. The bias of the first doped region 30 may, forexample, be in the range of 12 to 15V. The bias of the second dopedregion 32 may, for example, be set at 0V. The bias of the gate electrode24 may be set, for example, in a range of −2 to 0V in order to set theinterface between the silicon oxide layer 22 and film 16 in an h+accumulation layer mode. In response to the application of the gatevoltage, the h+ electrode voltage and the e− electrode voltage, anelectric field E is formed within the semiconductor film layer 16 withfield lines extending between the conductive gate 24 and the supportingsemiconductor substrate 12 in a direction perpendicular to the frontsurface of the semiconductor film layer 16. Photon (hv) absorptionoccurs in the semiconductor film layer 16 at a depth dependent on photonwavelength and electron (e−) and hole (h+) generation results. Theelectrons are drained to the e− electrode and holes are drained by theelectric field to the interface between the silicon oxide layer 22 andfilm 16. Charge impact ionization occurs due to the electric field Eextending across the semiconductor film layer 16 and an avalancheensues. Electron and hole charge collection due to the avalanchemultiplication is made, respectively, at the first and second dopedregions and is passed out, respectively, through the e− and h+electrodes.

Reference is now made to FIG. 2A wherein there is shown across-sectional diagram of a back side illuminated single photonavalanche gate (SPAG) photosensor device 50. The device 50 is formedfrom a portion of a silicon on insulator (SOI) substrate comprising aburied insulating layer 54, also known to those skilled in the art as aburied oxide (BOX) layer and a semiconductor film layer 56 on top of theburied insulating layer 54. The underlying supporting semiconductorsubstrate of the SOI substrate has been removed and replaced with aconductive layer 52 at the back side that is transparent to thewavelength of the photon to be detected. The transparent conductivelayer 52 may, for example, be made of an Indium-Tin-Oxide (ITO)material. The semiconductor film layer 56 is an epitaxially grown layerthat is doped with a p-type dopant. The dopant concentration in thesemiconductor film layer 56 may, for example, be in the range of 1×10¹⁶to 5×10¹⁷ at/cm³.

A planar insulated gate structure 60 is formed on the front surface ofthe semiconductor film layer 56. In an implementation, the semiconductorfilm layer 56 may include a gradient doping of 1×10¹⁴ at the middle oflayer 56 up to 5×10¹⁷ at/cm³ at the top of the layer 56 adjacent theinterface between the layer 56 and the gate structure 60. The planarinsulated gate structure 60 includes a gate dielectric layer 62, aconductive gate 64 and sidewall spacers 66. The gate dielectric layer 62may, for example, be made of a silicon oxide material as is conventionalin the fabrication of MOSFET devices. The conductive gate 64 may, forexample, be made of a polysilicon and/or metal material as isconventional in the fabrication of MOSFET devices. The sidewall spacers66 may, for example, be made of silicon oxide and/or silicon nitridematerials as is conventional in the fabrication of MOSFET devices.

The planar insulated gate structure 60 may have a ring shape in planview, where the ring surrounds a first doped region 70 that is formed inthe semiconductor film layer 56 at the front surface. The first dopedregion 70 is heavily doped with the p-type dopant. The dopantconcentration in the first doped region 70 may, for example, be in therange of 5×10¹⁸ to 5×10²⁰ at/cm³. The first doped region 70 has athickness which is less than a thickness of the layer 56. On theopposite side of the ring-shaped planar insulated gate structure 60, andin a position surrounding the planar insulated gate structure 60, aring-shaped second doped region 72 is formed in the semiconductor filmlayer 56 at the front surface. The second doped region 72 is heavilydoped with an n-type dopant and is separated from the first doped region70 by a part of the film layer 56 located under the ring-shaped planarinsulated gate structure 60. The dopant concentration in the seconddoped region 72 may, for example, be in the range of 5×10¹⁸ to 5×10²⁰at/cm³. The second doped region 72 has a thickness which extendscompletely through the thickness of the layer 56 to reach the interfacewith the buried oxide layer 54.

Operation of the back side illuminated single photon avalanche gatephotosensor device 50 to detect a photon (hv) entering at the back sideis the same as previously described for the front side illuminatedsingle photon avalanche gate photosensor device 10 of FIG. 1A, and thusfor sake of brevity will not be repeated.

Again, as previously described, the back side illuminated single photonavalanche gate photosensor device 50 differs from a convention singlephoton avalanche diode (SPAD) device because there is no P-N junctionfor the photosensing operation. This junctionless photosensingconfiguration advantageously does not suffer from the drawback ofconventional SPAD devices where photosensing is associated with the P-Njunction such as an undesirably high dark current rate due to junctiondefects and implanted silicon defects. Additionally, it will be notedthat the back side illuminated single photon avalanche gate photosensordevice 50 does not require the use of undesirably high operatingvoltages as is the case with conventional SPAD devices.

While the device 50 of FIG. 2A is shown with a p-doped semiconductorfilm layer 56 and operation in charge gate oxide accumulation mode, itwill be understood that the dopant types for the various includedstructures could be exchanged so that an n-doped semiconductor filmlayer 56 is provide to instead operate in hole gate oxide accumulationmode. See, FIG. 2B.

Operation of the back side illuminated single photon avalanche gatephotosensor device 50 to detect a photon (hv) entering at the back sideis the same as previously described for the front side illuminatedsingle photon avalanche gate photosensor device 10 of FIG. 1B, and thusfor sake of brevity will not be repeated.

FIG. 3 shows a layout or plan view of the devices 10 and 50 as shown inFIGS. 1A and 2A. A similar plan layout, with the N and P dopants andelectrodes switched, is applicable to the implementations of FIGS. 1Band 2B.

Reference is now made to FIG. 4A which shows a cross-sectional diagramof a back side illuminated single photon avalanche gate photosensor 100.The device 100 is formed in a semiconductor substrate 102. Thesemiconductor substrate 102 may be an epitaxially grown layer that isdoped with a p-type dopant. The dopant concentration in thesemiconductor substrate 102 may, for example, be in the range of 1×10¹⁶to 5×10¹⁷ at/cm³. An active region of the substrate 102 for photoncollection is delimited by a capacitive deep trench isolation (CDTI)structure 104 that forms a vertical gate electrode. The CDTI structure104 is formed in a trench 106 that is lined by an insulating material108 (such as a thermal oxide) and filled with a conductive material 110(such as polysilicon). The CDTI structure 104 has a ring shape in planview that surrounds the active region. In a preferred implementation,the CDTI structure 104 passes completely through a thickness of thesemiconductor substrate 102 from the front surface to the back surface.

A first doped region 120 is formed in the semiconductor substrate 102 atthe front surface. The first doped region 120 is heavily doped with then-type dopant. The dopant concentration in the first doped region 120may, for example, be in the range of 5×10¹⁸ to 5×10²⁰ at/cm³. A seconddoped region 122 is formed in the semiconductor substrate 102 at thefront surface. The second doped region 122 is heavily doped with thep-type dopant. The dopant concentration in the second doped region 112may, for example, be in the range of 5×10¹⁸ to 5×10²⁰ at/cm³. The firstdoped region 120 is separated from the second doped region 112 by ashallow trench isolation (STI) structure 130 formed in the semiconductorsubstrate 102 at the front surface. In a preferred embodiment, the STIstructure 130 has a ring shape that surrounds the second doped region122, with the second doped region 122 positioned at or near a center ofthe active region. The first doped region 120 is positioned at or near aperiphery of the active region, for example, adjacent to the CDTIstructure 104 and has a ring shape that surrounds the STI structure 130.

Operation of the back side illuminated single photon avalanche gatephotosensor device 100 to detect a photon (hv) entering the back surfacerequires respectively biasing the second doped region 122 through an h+electrode, the first doped region 120 through the e− electrode, andfinally the gate electrode 110. The bias of the second doped region 122may, for example, be in the range of 0-3V. The bias of the first dopedregion 120 may, for example, be set to 12V. The bias of the gateelectrode 110 may be set, for example, in a range of 12-15V in order toset the interface between the layer 108 and semiconductor substrate 102in an e− accumulation layer mode. In response to the application of thegate voltage, the h+ electrode voltage and the e− electrode voltage, anelectric field E is formed within the semiconductor substrate 102 withfield lines extending between the gate electrodes 110 in a parallel tothe front surface of the semiconductor substrate 102. Photon (hv)absorption occurs in the semiconductor substrate 102 at a depthdependent on photon wavelength and electron (e−) and hole (h+)generation results. The holes are drained to the h+ electrode andelectrons are drained by the electric field to the interface between thelater 108 and the semiconductor substrate 102. Charge impact ionizationoccurs due to the electric field E extending across the semiconductorsubstrate 102 and an avalanche ensues. Electron and hole chargecollection due to the avalanche multiplication is made, respectively, atthe first and second doped regions and is passed out, respectively,through the e− and h+ electrodes.

It will be noted that the back side illuminated single photon avalanchegate photosensor device 100 differs from a convention single photonavalanche diode (SPAD) device because there is no P-N junction for thephotosensing operation. This junctionless photosensing configurationadvantageously does not suffer from the drawback of conventional SPADdevices where photosensing is associated with the P-N junction such asan undesirably high dark current rate due to junction defects andimplanted silicon defects. Additionally, it will be noted that the backside illuminated single photon avalanche gate photosensor device 100does not require the use of undesirably high operating voltages as isthe case with conventional SPAD devices.

While the device 100 of FIG. 4A is shown with a p-doped semiconductorsubstrate 102 and operation in charge accumulation mode, it will beunderstood that the dopant types for the various included structurescould be exchanged so that an n-doped semiconductor substrate 102 isprovided to instead operate in hole accumulation mode. See, FIG. 4B. Theoperation of the device 100 configured as shown in FIG. 4B would, forexample, utilize, respectively, a biasing of the second doped region 122through an e− electrode, a biasing of the first region 120 through an h+electrode and finally a biasing of the gate electrode 110. The bias ofthe second doped region 122 may, for example, be in the range of 12 to15V. The bias of the first doped region 120 may, for example, be set at0V. The bias of the gate electrode 110 may be set, for example, in arange of −2 to 0V in order to set the interface between the layer 108and semiconductor substrate 102 in an h+ accumulation layer mode. Inresponse to the application of the gate voltage, the h+ electrodevoltage and the e− electrode voltage, an electric field E is formedwithin the semiconductor substrate 102 with field lines extendingbetween the gate electrodes 110 in a direction parallel to the frontsurface of the semiconductor substrate 102. Photon (hv) absorptionoccurs in the semiconductor substrate 102 at a depth dependent on photonwavelength and electron (e−) and hole (h+) generation results. Theelectrons are drained to the e− electrode and holes are drained by theelectric field to the interface between the layer 108 and substrate 102.Charge impact ionization occurs due to the electric field E extendingacross the semiconductor substrate 102 and an avalanche ensues. Electronand hole charge collection due to the avalanche multiplication is made,respectively, at the first and second doped regions and is passed out,respectively, through the e− and h+ electrodes.

FIG. 5 shows a layout view of the back side illuminated single photonavalanche gate photosensor 100 as shown in FIG. 4A. A similar planlayout, with the N and P dopants switched, is applicable to theimplementation of FIG. 4B.

FIGS. 6A and 6B illustrate the basic principle of operation of the backside illuminated single photon avalanche gate photosensor 100, with FIG.6A showing details for the semiconductor substrate 102 having an p-typedoping (corresponding to FIG. 4A) and FIG. 6B showing details for thesemiconductor substrate 102 having a n-type doping (corresponding toFIG. 4B).

Turning first to FIG. 6A, the upper portion of the figure shows aschematic cross-sectional view of the back side illuminated singlephoton avalanche gate photosensor 100 with the p-type dopedsemiconductor substrate 102 and the CDTI structures 104 shown withvertical gate electrodes (reference 110) insulated from the substrate102 by an oxide layer (reference 108) and corresponding to FIG. 4A. Themiddle portion of the figure shows the variation in electrostaticpotential laterally across the device from the positive gate voltage (15V in this example) at the vertical gate electrodes of the CDTIstructures 104 to the minimum voltage Vmin which corresponds to theelectrostatic potential managed by the fully depleted doping profile.The positive gate voltage at the vertical gate electrodes of the CDTIstructures 104 coupled with the e− electrode voltage (12V in thisexample) forces electron accumulation at the interface between layer 108and substrate 102. The bias voltage applied to the h+ electrode drainsholes out of the substrate 102 to create a fully depleted zone. Duringavalanche mode, holes migrate to the h+ electrode and electrons migrateto the e− electrode. The bottom portion of the figure further shows theregions where the avalanche effect occurs in response to absorption of aphoton received through the back side and the presence of anelectrostatic field strength in excess of the ionization impact criticalfield (for example, 3×10⁵ V/cm).

The upper portion of FIG. 6B shows a schematic cross-sectional view ofthe back side illuminated single photon avalanche gate photosensor 100with the n-type doped semiconductor substrate 102 and the CDTIstructures 104 shown with vertical gate electrodes (reference 110)insulated from the substrate 102 by an oxide layer (reference 108) andcorresponding to FIG. 4B. The middle portion of the figure shows thevariation in electrostatic potential laterally across the device fromthe negative gate voltage (−1 V in this example) at the vertical gateelectrodes of the CDTI structures 104 to the maximum voltage Vmax whichcorresponds to the electrostatic potential managed by the fully depleteddoping profile. The negative gate voltage at the vertical gateelectrodes of the CDTI structures 104 coupled with the h+ electrodevoltage (0V in this example) forces hole accumulation at the interfacebetween layer 108 and substrate 102. The bias voltage applied to the e−electrode drains carriers out of the substrate 102 to create a fullydepleted zone. During avalanche mode, holes migrate to the h+ electrodeand electrons migrate to the e− electrode. The bottom portion of thefigure further shows the regions where the avalanche effect occurs inresponse to absorption of a photon received through the back side andthe presence of an electrostatic field strength in excess of theionization impact critical field (for example, 3×10⁵ V/cm).

Reference is now made to FIG. 7 which shows a schematic diagram of asensing circuit 200 which utilizes a single photon avalanche gatephotosensor 202 of the type shown by the photosensors 10, 50 and 100 ofFIGS. 1, 2 and 4, respectively. The h+ electrode is connected at node204 to receive a bias voltage V_(BIAS). The V gate is connected at node206 to receive a gate voltage V_(GATE). The e− signal electrode isconnected at node 208 to output the sense signal to a read circuit 210.A quench circuit 212 is connected to the 208.

Alterations, modifications, and improvements are intended to be part ofthis disclosure, and are intended to be within the spirit and the scopeof the present invention. Accordingly, the foregoing description is byway of example only and is not intended to be limiting. The presentinvention is limited only as defined in the following claims and theequivalents thereto.

1. A photosensor, comprising: a first semiconductor layer doped with afirst doping type; a buried insulator layer over the first semiconductorlayer; a second semiconductor layer doped with the first doping typeover the buried insulator layer; an insulated gate electrode adjacentsaid second semiconductor layer; wherein the first semiconductor layerand insulated gate electrode are configured to be biased by a voltage toproduce an electrostatic field within the second semiconductor layercausing the formation of a depletion region within the secondsemiconductor layer, said depletion region responding to absorption of aphoton with an avalanche multiplication.
 2. The photosensor of claim 1,further comprising: a first region within the second semiconductor layerdoped with the first doping type; and a second region within the secondsemiconductor layer doped with a second doping type that is opposite thefirst doping type; wherein the avalanche multiplication that producescharges that are collected through the first and second regions.
 3. Thephotosensor of claim 2, wherein the first region is configured to bebiased with a first bias voltage and the second region is configured tobe biased with a second bias voltage.
 4. The photosensor of claim 2,wherein the second region extends completely through the secondsemiconductor layer to contact the buried insulator layer.
 5. Thephotosensor of claim 1, wherein the photon is received by passingthrough the first semiconductor layer.
 6. The photosensor of claim 1,wherein the photon is received by passing through the insulated gateelectrode.
 7. The photosensor of claim 6, wherein a conductive layer ofthe insulated gate electrode is made of a transparent material.
 8. Thephotosensor of claim 1, wherein the charges are electrons.
 9. Thephotosensor of claim 1, wherein the charges are holes.
 10. Aphotosensor, comprising: a semiconductor layer doped with a first dopingtype and having a first surface and a second surface opposite the firstsurface; a first electrode insulated from and adjacent to the firstsurface of the semiconductor layer; a second electrode insulated fromand adjacent to the second surface of the semiconductor layer; whereinthe first and second electrodes are configured to be biased by a voltageto produce an electrostatic field within the semiconductor layer causingthe formation of a depletion region within the semiconductor layer, saiddepletion region responding to absorption of a photon with an avalanchemultiplication.
 11. The photosensor of claim 10, further comprising: afirst region within the semiconductor layer doped with the first dopingtype; and a second region within the semiconductor layer doped with asecond doping type that is opposite the first doping type; wherein theavalanche multiplication that produces charges that are collectedthrough the first and second regions.
 12. The photosensor of claim 11,wherein the first region is configured to be biased with a first biasvoltage and the second region is configured to be biased with a secondbias voltage.
 13. The photosensor of claim 11, wherein the second regionextends completely through the first semiconductor layer to contact theburied insulator layer.
 14. The photosensor of claim 10, wherein thephoton is received by passing through the first electrode.
 15. Thephotosensor of claim 14, wherein the first electrode is made of atransparent material.
 16. The photosensor of claim 10, wherein thephoton is received by passing through the first electrode.
 17. Thephotosensor of claim 16, wherein the second electrode is made of asemiconductor material.
 18. The photosensor of claim 10, wherein thecharges are electrons.
 19. The photosensor of claim 10, wherein thecharges are holes.
 20. A photosensor, comprising: a semiconductor layerdoped with a first doping type and having a first surface and a secondsurface opposite the first surface; a first electrode insulated from thesemiconductor layer and extending through the semiconductor layer fromthe first surface to the second surface; a second electrode insulatedfrom the semiconductor layer and extending through the semiconductorlayer from the first surface to the second surface; wherein the firstand second electrodes are configured to be biased by a voltage toproduce an electrostatic field within the semiconductor layer causingthe formation of a depletion region within the semiconductor layer, saiddepletion region responding to absorption of a photon with an avalanchemultiplication.
 21. The photosensor of claim 20, further comprising: afirst region within the semiconductor layer doped with the first dopingtype; and a second region within the semiconductor layer doped with asecond doping type that is opposite the first doping type; wherein theavalanche multiplication that produces charges that are collectedthrough the first and second regions.
 22. The photosensor of claim 21,wherein the first region is configured to be biased with a first biasvoltage and the second region is configured to be biased with a secondbias voltage.
 23. The photosensor of claim 21, wherein the second regionextends to completely surround the first region at the first surface andis insulated from the first region by an insulating region.
 24. Thephotosensor of claim 20, wherein the photon is received by passingthrough the first surface.
 25. The photosensor of claim 20, wherein thephoton is received by passing through the second surface.
 26. Thephotosensor of claim 20, wherein the charges are electrons.
 27. Thephotosensor of claim 20, wherein the charges are holes.